Emirati pays Dhs8 million for exclusive ‘diamond plus’ mobile number

A multi-millionaire has paid a whopping Dhs7.82 million for the UAE mobile telephone number 050 777 7777.

The Etisalat ‘diamond plus’ digits were bought at a VIP mobile number auction that saw 70 special numbers go up for grabs.

About 700 guests help raise more than Dhs20 million by bidding for the distinct digits, said Abdulla Al Mannaei, the CEO of Emirates Auction, the house that hosted the bids.

Confirming that the 050 777 7777 number went for the mammoth fee, Al Mannaei said: “It’s an easy number [to remember].”

Al Mannaei added the buyer was an Emirati who did not want his identity revealed.

“He didn’t agree to it,” Al Mannaei said.

The auction house CEO could not say for sure whether it was a record buy for a mobile number, but officials are looking into it. Al Mannaei revealed that two years ago a phone number was sold for just under Dhs3 million at an auction in Kuwait.

“And the number was easier [to remember] than that,” he said of the 050 7777 777 digits.

The auction was hosted simultaneously on Saturday at the Armani Hotel in Dubai and Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. The 70 VIP numbers were split into diamond plus, diamond, platinum and gold categories.

The buyer of the near-Dhs8 million diamond plus number package will receive 22,500 local minutes per month for two years. The wealthy Emirati phone fan will also get 2,250 international minutes per month and 100GB data per month for two years.

There are also 22,500 local text messages and 300 incoming roaming minutes per month for two years included in the deal. The package even comes with “the latest smartphone and dedicated customer care”.

But when 7DAYS called the exclusive 050 777 7777 number, it appeared that the big-bucks buyer hadn’t quite got around to activating his new Etisalat digits.

A message said: “The number you have dialled is not a working number at the moment. Please check the number and try again.”

14 Comments

catMarch 10, 2014, 11:24 am

That was just too much for an average person to hear.
We cant stop him though, he has all the riches to purchased a unique number.
I just wonder if he gets free calls/sms/internet/roaming usage for life…to compensate for the expensive cost of the sim somehow.

sMarch 10, 2014, 12:10 pm

Why conceal your identity when the whole world now knows your number???

willMarch 10, 2014, 3:05 pm

To be fair, 100Gb of data monthly for 2 years at Etisalat’s rate is probably more than 7m!

anMarch 10, 2014, 3:29 pm

Let me give him a miscall …:)

Mrs MMarch 10, 2014, 3:37 pm

This is the funniest thing I have heard in ages!! Cue the many, many, many call centres now planning to ring him knowing that he is loaded! Brilliant

CSMarch 10, 2014, 3:42 pm

Simple. Because the whole world knew ’bout the number so he/she has to conceal him/herself. Even a child can easily remember such kind of mobile number, the thing is if there will be some kind of penalty/fine in case someone tries to make prank or make joke to the Emirati owner. Common sense isn’t common anymore!

Chris ReidMarch 10, 2014, 3:58 pm

what a horrible phone plan for that amount of money. For $60 (250dhs) a month in Australia you can have a phone plan that give unlimited phone calls(sending and receiving), unlimited text messages, and 150gb of data….UAE mobile plans are horrible….

RomaMarch 10, 2014, 5:50 pm

The guy dint wanna reveal his identity but has revealed his mobile number! Lol!

AppreciatedMarch 10, 2014, 6:05 pm

Appreciated the buyer who was purchase such good thing with such Good Amount & Even I don’t have words to descript. Moreover Our Brothers/Sisters are suffering from Hunger since ever in Syria,

ConcernedMarch 10, 2014, 11:02 pm

Imagine how many children 8 million Dirhams can feed. What a loss to humanity?

A loyal resident!March 10, 2014, 11:25 pm

Why would people continue on commenting negatively on the Emiraty guy or whatever nationality he may be. He is free to do whatever he wants with his money. That same guy might be helping charities and people in need. Let us not forget that the UAE is a giving country, they are the first ones to lend their hand for help. So stop judging and assuming… My god…how negative!!!

MelMarch 11, 2014, 1:49 am

The amount of good that money could have done..

Emily SaysonMarch 11, 2014, 9:05 am

He is so lucky that he can buy whatever he wants cheaper or expensive items… Your so bless… Share your blessings to us, heheheheh.. Joke.

From what I understand Etisalat sold the numbers as a type of fund raiser for a good cause although it isn’t obvious in this article.
Phone numbers, like domain names, are unique and can therefore become highly popular and worth a lot of money. Downside to having such an easy number consisting of only one digit which is repeated will probably reslut in a lot of prank calls which makes it sort of useless for personal use.
For that you should get a slightly less unique mobile number.